May 5th: Thai Food, Lego EV3, Homework, Senior Class Schedule

Today was decent.

In the morning, my auntie took me and my grandpa out to get Thai food. It was my first time getting Thai food. We ate at Mai Thai. We got the Satay Chicken, BBQ Beef, Pineapple fried rice with pork, and Pad See Ew. It was all very yummy. My grandfather didn't favor it, but he's old fashioned.

After that, I procrastinated a little by working on my Lego EV3. I wrote some code for it. With the additional directional motorized wheel caster, the maneuverability is better, but the programming for it needs to be a little more advanced. For me, the EV3 home software for programming looks rather atrocious (and is a little laggy,) so I looked for options. Originally I wanted to use python, but then I needed a spare microSD card. But, Microsoft Makecode has their own thingy for programming EV3s which I found to be acceptable. JavaScript can be used, but honestly the naming schemes and object names are not meant for typing, so I ended up using the block code. It's still an improvement over the EV3 home software in my opinion! Anyways, I programmed it, and though it works, the wheels have a bit of drift. Then, it dawned on me: I need to use PID to control the directional motorized caster. I never thought that I needed to use such an advanced control scheme system for an EV3, an introductory system for robotics for younger people, but I'm excited to work on this robot to make it good. I don't really want to write any autonomous code for it, because I don't have enough intelligent sensors for it, which is why I've been using the infrared remote controller, but it's still cool. If I end up building the FLL mat that my brother gave me, I'll probably write some autonomous code for it.

Anyways, after I was done procrastinating with my Lego EV3 Robot, I got started on my economics homework. I honestly had a lot of trouble focusing today, but I found some tips to help. For one, using Windows desktops help because it really reduces to access to distracting sites, since it's an additional step to access my personal account. Still, I barely managed to finish enough homework by the deadline.

Unfortunately, I missed out on starting/finishing my homework for my US History project. It's a bit of a larger grade, but hopefully I can recover from it. The late policy for the class is just 90%, so hopefully I can still finish it sooner than later.

After lots of pondering and questioning other students, I've finally decided on taking AP Literature (Required), Senior Seminar (Required), Gov/Econ (Required), Robotics (Required given my circumstance), AP Spanish Language and Culture (I've put in too much time into studying Spanish), and AP Biology. The biggest one I've been pondering on are the last two courses, AP Spanish and AP Biology. AP Spanish came to me a little bit more easily though, because my former Spanish Teacher (Mr. Sosa) has been telling me to take AP Spanish. However, for my last class, I really had lots of trouble. I condensed my choices to either AP CSA, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, or being a Teacher Assistant. My friend discouraged me from being a Teacher Assistant because it wouldn't really help me, it would just be a wasted class space for something more academic. Other seniors could be a TA because they've already taken other courses they could take, but I could still be taking more academic classes. The Senior Counselor discouraged me from taking AP CSA because I've already taken the equivalent courses at the local community college. My friends discouraged me from taking AP Chemistry. Despite it being a harder AP, which would prove course rigor, the AP Chemistry teacher at our school... lets just say... has a poorer reputation. AP Chemistry is also just a harder class, and with everything I need to do in my senior year, it's not worth it at all for me to self study, and I don't think I would survive if I took AP Chemistry. However, people were encouraging AP Biology, for it's a little bit easier, and it's an AP Science class, which I haven't taken yet.

I decided on my second choice elective to be AP Chemistry though. If I end up with a really bad set of electives, like if I end up needing to take AP Chemistry or if I'm denied AP Spanish, so I end up taking AP Chemistry and AP Biology, I hope I can negotiate with a counselor to get my schedule settled earlier than later.

I have to wake up really early tomorrow so I can sign up for Chabot Classes. I hope I can even wake up early! I can't really wake up early, I just don't enjoy getting out of my warm bed in the morning.

Thanks for reading,
Issac